Yellowstars: out of the ashes
by birminghamwriter
Summary: An idea of mine based on S M Stirling's dies the fire. Obviously the plot and genius ideas are based on his fantastic work!


Village of Kiato, Peloponnese, Greece Village of Kiato, Peloponnese, Greece

Change minus 5 minutes

Murphy, the one Irish volunteer at the party, relaxed on the balcony of the apartment building, tapping his feet to the cheesy dance hits being played on the laptop inside. Drawing deeply on his cigarette, he admired the Greek sunset, the subtle colours marching over each other. Inside, over 40 fellow volunteers danced and drank and made merry. Suddenly, blinding lights flashed _inside_ his eyes, and a pulse of pain unlike anything he had felt before lanced through his head. Cries of pain came from inside.

When he opened his eyes again, he noticed the music had stopped. Not just the music, in fact; lights, the oven door was dark, and – hell, the two cars in the road below him had stalled at the lights too! He pushed his way into the twilight light inside and shouted, "Whats happened?" Everyone else was sitting down, or lighting the plentiful candles scattered round the apartment – luckily, the recent energy strikes had meant everyone got in a stock of candles, and the hosts of the party, a Dutch volunteer called Karol and an Austrian called Salem, were no exception. Everyone was talking at once, and Murphy took advantage to go out on the balcony and take another look over the village proper. The building was on a rise, and he could see across most of the small village and even into the plains beyond, and a small shudder ran through him.

There was no light shining, none. Even car headlights had gone. In windows small wavy points showed candles burning, but nothing electric _at all_. A small whump suddenly sounded across the village, and a spark of flame shot up briefly before dying to a ruddy glow. The others crowded out onto the balcony as well, watching the ruddy glow spread slowly across the plains; it was obvious a car had exploded, and the fire was spreading across the fields.

A Danish girl suddenly ran inside and down the corridor stairs to a window in the opposite wall, looking out across the sea. There were no lights there either, she called, but she could just see in the fading light, a boat crashed up against the rocky side of the bay, the fishermen desperately trying to row with planks of wood. Even as she spoke, she screamed, and there came a rending crash as a wave concertinaed the boat into the rocks. The fishermen were tossed into the waves, crushed against the rocks, although one was caught by a lucky wave and pushed against the rocks, painfully crushing his ribs before flipping him over onto the sandy path that ran alongside the dangerous sea.

"Good God!" exclaimed Meike, the girl, and then called for help to go get the injured seaman. A dozen other volunteers ran out with a mattress to form an improvised stretcher. Murphy, however, was still on the balcony. A German volunteer, Marc, stood next to him. "Vot do you think has happened?" he asked softly. "Look, ze cars are stopped. There is no electricity anywhere. Could this be a nuclear bomb?"

Murphy shook his head. They were both good friends, and had discovered a shared passion of apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic novels; they both knew of the main ways of causing this kind of damage. "Nah, more likely an EMP, you know, like in the show 'Jericho'. I would have seen a nuclear explosion, even upper-atmosphere. EMP would also better explain the cars. 2 questions though; why bomb the hell out of rural Peloponnese, and what in God's name was that pain we all felt just before?"

Marc shrugged. He had no answer. He did know, however, what would come next. "We need to take precautions, my friend. We know what will happen now, even if this is a local phenomenon".

Murphy nodded soberly. "Yeah. The hordes".

Chapter 1

1 hour into Change

The seaman was resting on one of the apartment beds, with one of the volunteers, who was studying to become a nurse at university, looking after him. Murphy, Marc, and several other volunteers were at the local town hall. The village was a tiny place; barely 100 people all told who were mostly farmers and city dwellers holidaying in second homes. In the only square, the town hall had become the gathering place for the tiny community, with nearly 90 people packed in the only room. Candles created frantic shadows on the walls as people's gestures created airwaves, while shouts and calls produced a substitute for the complete mechanical silence that now prevailed.

Murphy and Marc listened to the frightened villagers. Although Marc spoke Greek fairly well, Murphy could barely get by. He understood the gist of it though. No one was willing to take charge, although everyone was trying to curb their own fear by shouting loudly, to appear more in control of the situation than their neighbours. With no village mayor or council, there was simply no authority. The one policeman was out patrolling the streets to ensure no one was hurt – the group of volunteers had passed him on the way. He had brusquely ordered them to stay at home; his widened eyes had explained how his fears were as barely in check as the group of villagers.

Suddenly there was a loud shout on the edge of the group. A scuffle had broken out and a candle was knocked to the floor. The surging press swayed between getting involved and stamping out the small flames, or heading for the exit. Murphy knew if they left now, the village would sit passively and apart from each other, and the sweeping tide of change would simply wash over them. "Come on" he yelled at Marc, and started striding towards a raised dais. Marc, all 6'6 and heavy shoulders, made a furrow of humankind as he paved a passage through. Leaping onto the raised platform, Murphy yelled in English, "Shut up!"

It had little effect. A few people, disturbed by their fight to the front or by his shout, looked up, but the great mass behind failed to see him in the wavering light. He considered shouting in Greek, but couldn't see how it would help him gain attention when everyone else was saying the same – without taking their own advice, seemingly. Suddenly, a ruddy glow leapt up outside the windows. It threw a welcome, steady light into the room, enabling people to see. Everyone turned round, and in the same instant caught sight of the 2 volunteers above everyone else.


End file.
